In the bottom margin of this se-tenant pair is the communication across the strait through the years inscribed.
From 1827 small iceboats were used in which crews sailed and hauled boats equipped with runners, across open waters and over the ice between Cape Traverse and Cape Tormentine, N.B., operating weekly carrying mail and passengers.
On 07 December 1876 the NORTHERN LIGHT commenced service as the first Canadian government steamer used for crossing the strait, the ship details and career you can find in the index. She is the ship in the middle.
The ship in the margin on the right is the MINTO which began service in 1899.
Built as a steel hulled icebreaker under yard No 186 by Gourlay Bros, Dundee for the Canadian Government.
12 July 1899 launched as the MINTO, named after Governor General Earl of Minto (1898-1904)
Tonnage 1,089 gross, 372 net, dim. 225 x 32,6 x 20.6ft.
One triple expansion steam engine, 2,900 ihp, one shaft speed 16 knots.
September 1899 completed. Building cost $175,433
Used in the ferry service between Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Pictou on the mainland of Canada.
During the rough winter she was trapped in the ice for more as two months.
1915 She was bought by Russia Imperial Government and renamed IVAN SUSANIN.
28 November 1915 she sailed from North Sydney under Russian flag under command of Captain John Read and a crew of 52.
After a passage of 17 days on 15th December she arrived in Alexanderovsk (now Polarynj), near Murmansk, Russia.
After taking on board bunkers she proceeded to Arkhangelsk, in a position about 35 miles from Arkhangelsk the ice got very thick and the IVAN SUSANIN could not enter Arkhangelsk, a Russian crew was brought out and relieved the Canadian crew, the voyage over it ice took more as 20 hours by sleds and by a temperature of minus 35 degree Celsius many crew members were severely frostbitten on arrival in Arkhangelsk.
1918 Under the Communist Russian Red Government, renamed in LEITENANT DREYER, and later in SKURATOV.
Under this name she foundered at Cheshkaya Guba, East Barents Sea in 1922.
Canada 1997 45c sg?, scott1646a.
Source: Watercraft Philately. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz
The following is given by the Canadian Post on these issues:
Mainland Canada and Prince Edward Island have "pulled" each other closer with the construction of the Confederation Bridge, the long-awaited fixed link to New Brunswick and other regions of Canada. On May 31, 1997, Canada Post will issue a se tenant pair of domestic rate (45¢) commemorative stamps to mark the official opening of this great engineering achievement, the Western hemisphere's longest continuous marine span bridge. To encourage PEI to enter Confederation, the new Dominion of Canada pledged that it would assume and defray all charges to Islanders for "efficient steam service for the conveyance of mails and passengers, winter and summer." As a result, the Northern Light entered service in 1876 as the first Canadian government steamer. Soon, however, it proved unable to deal with ice conditions. A bridge, or tunnel, many Islanders believed, would be the only solution. Over the years, other vessels crossed the Northumberland Strait, carrying cars and passengers to "the land cradled on the waves". However, none of these improvements put an end to the debate over a fixed link. In 1967, work began on a combination causeway-bridge put plans were abandoned two years later. Eighteen years later, the Government of Canada received three unsolicited proposals for a fixed link which resulted in a former call for tenders for a privately owned bridge or tunnel. On January 18, 1988, Islanders voted to replace the ferry system and the monumental process of bridge construction began in 1993. Strait Crossing Development Incorporated, a Canadian consortium agreed to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the structure for 35 years, after which time it is to become Crown property. The taxpayers' cost for the bridge will be no more than that of the ferry service. The location of the bridge has its own unique challenges. In one of the windiest sites in Canada, it must withstand the push of ice floes driven by currents trough the Northumberland Strait. A daunting challenge for the builder, the design required pushing Canadian technology to the forefront of cold ocean engineering. There are two traffic lanes and a full emergency shoulder in each direction and predictions are that, in good weather, drivers will cross in 10 to 15 minutes. Closed-circuit video cameras will monitor traffic and there will be 24-hour snow and ice removal service. Viewed from either shore, the grey concrete structure rises 40 metres or 11 storeys above the water like a taut, scalloped high wire, altering the seascape forever. Built in an S-shape to eliminate any hypnotic effect a straight run might have on drivers, this world-class engineering wonder invites you to drive on over and explore the gently rolling dunes, red soil and legendary hospitality of the Islanders. To capture the length and breadth of the bridge, Charles Burke and Jim Hudson, in their work for Canada Post, designed a three-part panoramic view viewed from the New Brunswick side. In the foreground, on the left-hand stamp, a lighthouse stands watch over the seemingly never-ending span of the bridge. A tab showing the bridge's middle arch joins the first stamp to the second. The low-lying hills of the garden province serve as backdrop for the entire strip.
Canada 1997 45c sg?, scott1646a
Canada Post Corporation. Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1997, p. 16-18.